11/6/15

Today LF Xavier Avery, 2B James Beresford, RHP Michael Bowden, SS Argenis Diaz, C Allan de San Miguel, & OF Eric Farris elected free agency. They are Minor League Free Agents and can sign with any organization. All six played with AAA Rochester Red Wings (International League) in 2015.

11/5/15

The
Minnesota Twins re-signed minor league free agent 2B/SS Heiker Menesesto a Minor League deal.
The 5'9", 200 lbs veteran of 8 minor league seasons just turned 24
years old and spent all of 2015 in Chattanooga where he hit
.259/.317/.300, mostly alternating between second base and shortstop.
He also had a handful of games at third base and part of one at first.

Even
though of a prospect age, he is not top prospect material (he was
ranked as the Red Sox' 30th prospect by Baseball America after 2011, his
age 19 season when he moved all the way from single A Greenville to AA
Portland, including a stop at High A Salem where he hit .356/.416/.574
in 114 plate appearances).

Meneses will provide depth and more than
steady defense in the middle infield; he was voted as the best defensive
second baseman in the Southern League by the league's managers and
coaches, complementing prospects Levi Michael and Jorge Polanco. His ceiling is a potential utility infielder at the major
league level. Depending on the Twins' off-season, he would likely
return to Chattanooga for his 6th trip to AA or move up to Rochester as a
24 year old.

11/4/15

In a recent interview, Twins' General Manager Terry Ryan indicated that one of his off-season targets should be a catcher to complement ("take a load off", in his words) Kurt Suzuki in the Twins' lineup. The free-agent route, is the most likely way for this to happen, and this is a pretty decent class at Catcher:

There are twenty Catchers in this class of MLB and high level MiLB free agents:

Suzuki is a Right Hand Batter and has been hitting ok last season against LHPs (.257/.320/.338 vs .232/.284/.303 against RHPs.) The Twins as a team hit .242/.301/.393 against RHPs, which is a number (especially the BA and OBP) that needs to change, in order for the Twins to take the next step. Thus: Regrets to right hand hitting catchers and goodbye to Teagarden, Soto, Solano, Pacheco, Nieves, McKenry, Mathis, Laird, Kratz, Iannetta, Hayes and Ashley.

This drops the field to just 8 contenders. Which of those 8 (Matt Wieters, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, A.J. Pierzynski, Brayan Pena, Dioner Navarro, Carlos Corporan, Alex Avila, Bryan Anderson) would go to the next round?

Second Cut:

Even though former top 100 prospect Bryan Anderson is an intriguing possibility, and before this season had an excellent minor league record, the Twins need a catcher who will be ready to take 300 plus PAs a season, since he will be facing RHP. For this reason, Anderson and Corporan (despite the great pitch framing capabilities) do not fit the bill, for a competing team. If the Twins were rebuilding, those two catchers, could potentially find themselves closer to the top of the list, but not now.

Attitude and chemistry is a bigger factor than most thing, and it was an important contributor to the Twins 2015 season. Both Saltalamacchia and Pierzynski have had issues in this department and it will be wise for the Twins to let them be someone else's problem. Matt Wieters, Brayan Pena, Dioner Navarro and Alexi Avila are thus the final four.

Final Four:

Need a bit more scrutiny at this point. Here are their stats as above:

At this point, clearly, Alex Avila is the worst defender in the group (all 4 have very similar CS%.) His performance with the bat has also dropped from his 2011 All Star Peak, when he had .895 OPS to .736, .693, .686 and .626 OPS last season. This is a scary progression, and even at potential bargain rates, Avila should not be the one for the Twins. Three choices left.

Both Wieters and Navarro had down seasons in 2015, Wieters' following Tommy John surgery. Their left side of the plate is for both the weak side. The will both demand multi-season starting catcher contracts (in the 3/$28 M for Navarro and 4/$48 M range for Wieters, as baselines) Wieters is the best of two defensively, has had a superstar trajectory and potential (but remember the Twins used to have one of those behind the plate,) but Navarro is always highly praised by his pitchers, including David Price. Pena had a good season in 2015, hitting an excellent .295/.347/.353 against RHPs, the left side of the plate is his strong side, and is a master of blocking balls on the dirt. At 33 he is the oldest of the 3, but has better plate discipline than the other two and would likely be had with a 2 year, $7M contract at the high end.

At this point Navarro falls a bit in the middle. He does not add much more than Pena and comes at a much higher cost. Two choices left.

Wieters or Pena? Eventhough Matt Wieters has superstar potential, is still young and could be had at a bargain price, he comes with risks: He would require a longer term contract, more money and, maybe even more importantly the Twins' commitment that he will be their starting catcher for the future. Do Suzuki plus Pena add to more than Wieters? Potentially. Pena's bat will play well against RHPs, he provides a low stout target for his pitchers and will definitely upgrade the defense in the positions. The answer might had been different, if the Twins were not competing and did not have other holes to close, which would require part of the money to sign Wieters. Plus Wieters will cost the Twins' 2016 first round draft pick.

11/3/15

The Twins announced that they have released 2011 first draft pick, RHP Hudson Boyd. That was the draft that the Twins had 3 first round picks (Levi Michael and Travis Harrison were selected before Boyd,) and quickly turns into a disappointment. No players have made the majors with the Twins from that draft, and while Michael and Harrison still have prospect status, Boyd joined second rounder Madison Boer, fourth rounder Matt Summers, fifth rounder Tyler Grimes, and seventh rounder Steven Gruber, in the list of the retired/released. Third rounder Corey Williams came back last season after Tommy John surgery and sixth rounder Derek Rodriguez is making the transition from an outfielder to a pitcher.

Boyd was selected from the Fort Myers High School so was heavily scouted by the Twins. The former starting pitching prospect fought weight and drug problems and did not make it above single A, where as a 21 year old, fully transitioned into the pen and posted a 4.34 ERA, 1.431 WHIP, 7 K/9 and 1.45 K/BB line in his last season, 2014. He was suspended 50 games in 2015 and did not pitch at all.

About Me

This blog contains eclectic musings about baseball, mainly centering on the Minnesota Twins and are mainly numbers-driven. I anticipate a few Vikings tidbits here and there, a bunch of historical statistical analysis, some emphasis on minor leagues and prediction of prospect development and production in the majors... just a place to place some thoughts.
I am a Twin Cities expat and SABR member, living on the right coast and have good access to both Twins' AAA and AA teams, albeit not necessarily their home fields.
Feel free to commend in the blog or email me at thetenthinningstretch at gmail.com